Your Cookies are Disabled! NationalNotary.org sets cookies on your computer to help improve performance and provide a more engaging user experience. By using this site, you accept the terms of our cookie policy. Learn more.

The Signing Professionals Workgroup (SPW) recently announced newly recommended best-practices certification standards for Notaries who perform loan document signings. More details are available in the press release and article below:

Certified Signing Specialist Code of Conduct
Certified Signing Specialists will adopt the standards of professionalism and practice as defined in the Certified Signing Specialist Code of Conduct. To obtain and maintain the Certified Signing Specialist designation, you will be required to sign an acknowledgment stating that you will abide by the Code of Conduct’s Standards of Practice.

Standardized Signing Script
Certified Signing Specialists will follow a standardized script at the onset of a loan signing appointment, and will use the supplied standardized responses when explaining the function of specific loan documents when asked by the consumer. The SPW’s script is intended to be a guideline if the lender, title company or signing service does not provide one. You may use any script provided by a lender, title company or signing service that does not ask you to violate the law.

Background Screening
Certified Signing Specialists will satisfy an annual background screening that follows the search criteria and scoring metrics defined in the Standards.

Certification Examination
Certified Signing Specialists will complete an annual examination with a passing score of at least 80%. The examination is currently under development and will be updated each year to reflect changes in the industry.

Chris Sturdivant, Director of Business Development for the National Notary Association, spoke with Notaries, via Skype, in Maryland during a Notary Public Day seminar. He discussed the new standards for mortgage signings, the creation of the Signing Professionals Workgroup, the future Certified Signing Specialist designation, and answered several questions from the audience.